1979 Kung Fu Grip.

Well, the group is a group now. After a shaky start they’re learning to trust one another. Jessica’s real world knowledge of grifting will serve them well. She’s already becoming the defacto leader although they don’t realize it yet. Her charisma and willpower make her a natural leader, for good or ill. She’s also dwarven enough that Mike’s character took a liking to her almost instinctually. Jo is getting her bearings since an in game motivation hasn’t presented itself in a way that resonates with her yet. It’s very much still just words and paper. Something will need to happen to spark her imagination and make it real.

33 Comments

Probably a stupid question, but do you already have a fully planned out set of motivations for the D&D arc or are you just kind of letting the characters lead the way?
If this isn’t me prying or anything.

Dear Jackie: you have this DM-ing thing down to a science! My hat is off to you!
Back in the day I thought the reason for dungeons and dragons was to get together as a group and live out the characters having the sexual encounters we wanted- but were years away from getting.
…and the occasional Wild fantasties that were tame enough to let others see we had. One guy let on that he would have sex with anything… Any Thing, that would/could give consent. We all thought he was a little odd, – hunh-, turns out he was more forward thinking/respectful than any of us others were. He was forty years ahead of his time.

The worst part of it is getting the Toilet Paper out of your knapsack when you’re in a hurry, hurry, hurry, to get to the bushes Quick, … and you have to do it all with one hand. Knapsack starps are very hard with one set of fingers.
And a knotted shoelace… Yeah, just ask for help.
Which if I am not wrong again, is something Ed doesn’t care to do.

I really like Jo’s interactions in this storyline! They’re so honest to the way a person who’s trying really hard to engage with the game but doesn’t have a clear sense for how to approach it feels and acts. I’ve BEEN that person.

Have to say they’re coming together as a party better than I expected. It’s the sign of a good DM to not over-control the adventure. Some of my favorites were when the group did what they wanted and eventually found the adventure I had actually planned.

Sometimes though, the party is just doomed from their own real-life circumstances. I had a divorcing couple in one group. He was an avid player, she was not, but insisted on being there just to annoy him. And she did.

Now, I made it a habit to pass a lot of pointless notes to players and encouraged them to pass the same back. That way, when there was anything really important and secret, the passing of notes wasn’t anything to raise an alarm. Usually it was stuff like, “You see a spooky shadow” or “You crave whiskey” or “This is a nothing note. Make a concerned face, chuckle, or look intensely at one of the other players.” They might respond by scribbling a nonsense symbol or something else amusing.

The divorcing wife sent me a lot of notes saying what she was going to steal from his character, bad rumors she’d spread, or if she would light him on fire and when. Those games were fun for me, to a point, but the divorce ended badly for him. She insisted on getting all his D&D materials in the divorce (he caved) and she burned it all on his lawn.